The mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument is an integral part of the acoustic design of the instrument. The precision demands in forming a mouthpiece are quite high. Nonetheless, in spite of the accuracy with which the mouthpieces are made and the general consistency of the material of which they are formed, the fact remains that standardized mouthpieces differ. Out of a batch of a dozen mouthpieces, one or two will be quite obviously better than the others. This results in a trial-and-error approach to matching the mouthpiece to the instrument, while considering the additional variables of the reed and the player's embouchure.
Since different woodwind instruments, e.g., tenor saxophone, bass saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, play in different registers, the mouthpiece for each differs. It is necessary to establish oscillations at different frequencies to reach the appropriate range for a given instrument, with the establishment of oscillations governed by the size of the reed and the tip opening, with the tip opening defined as the gap between the bottom of the reed and the mouthpiece tip. Thus, if someone wants to try different woodwinds, especially in the case of a music student who is trying to decide on which mouthpiece he or she will concentrate.
The reed, another source of significant variability in optimizing the playability and tone of a woodwind, is held in place over the lay and extending over the baffle by the ligature, a metal ring which is tightened by two thumb screws.
The mouthpiece is attached to the instrument by inserting the barrel insert into the instrument barrel. A seal is created by covering the insert with joint cork which compresses to provide a tight fit. Often, because of the variability of instruments and mouthpieces, it is necessary to shave off some of the cork in order to fit the mouthpiece into the instrument.
In two patents which have been granted to the present inventors, a stainless steel reed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,420, issued Dec. 25, 1990) and a titanium reed (U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,572, issued Jul. 13, 1993) are disclosed which provide practical and cost effective solutions to the extreme variability in quality and lifetime of traditional cane reeds. A typical cane reed varies in quality due to such factors as growing conditions of the cane and age of the plants, among others. It is not unusual to find only three suitable reeds out of a box of twenty, and the player can only use the reed for about 20-30 hours before it breaks down. Besides providing the improved consistency and durability of metal as compared with cane, these reeds have provided a marked improvement in range and ability to reach the lower registers, eliminating the inherent squeaks experienced in some woodwinds, which previously even the most skilled players had accepted as unavoidable. Thus, several of the problems encountered in playing woodwinds have been addressed.
Still, due to the extreme variability in mouthpieces, trial-and-error fitting techniques have been required to match even the metal reeds to different mouthpieces. This problem could be overcome by creating a universal mouthpiece that will fit all woodwinds, and can accommodate both metal and cane reeds without modifying either. Further, a universal mouthpiece could be used in a variety of different woodwind instruments.